From Stephen Shepherd:

A friend of mine once saw Dave Matthews, yes the Dave Matthews, the pop star, at Spot Coffee after a gig in the surrounding area. When my buddy told him how much he appreciated his music, Dave responded, quite emphatically, by saying, “Man, you’ve got to love living in Buffalo--next to such a large body of water fresh.”

The odd placement of the last word made it sound so poetic, but the thing that really surprised me was my own reaction. “He said that?” I asked, smiling like I was twelve and had just found out that the girl all the boys liked, liked me. Usually people are more willing to cast an off-handed insult at Buffalo. Here was someone famous giving a spirited thumbs-up. But, is that why we are so excited to live here, because of the lake? I asked myself.

I had similar positive feelings when I found out from one of those “Buffalo Sighting Web Sites” that Brad Pitt had been spotted wearing a “City of No Illusions” t-shirt. He’s one of us, I thought to myself. It sounds laughable. Why? It shouldn’t matter what people, especially famous people, say, or maybe imply in Brad’s case, about your city, and it probably doesn’t for most people in most cities, but it does to us; after all, we are the city and the city is us. That’s why I choose to live in Buffalo, because there is such an intimate connection between people and place.

I do have to agree with Dave, the fresh water is great, though I’m not sure I even drink lake water, but I love being near it. Walking along the harbor canal towards the rose garden at the Erie Basin Marina at dusk on summer nights, I’ve caught myself in a trance-like state listening to it whisper dreams of not-too-distant mid-western idylls.

But, Buffalo is more than just the land beside the lake, sorry Dave. The truth about Buffalo has more to do with Brad’s t-shirt, for what we, her people, offer, and more importantly, for what we don’t offer. We make no claims to being a “destination” city, but we know how to make an impression. We are honest neighbors, hearty eaters, and self-deprecators. We know kindness, community, and laughter. Above all, we know ourselves.

As people of this city, we don’t promise more than we can deliver. There’s a straight-forwardness, forceful yet unassuming, that keeps us honest with each other. We can offer you food that’s great, but not great for you (one could say the same for the sports teams). We’ll also be the first to tell you that the rate of heart disease in Western New York ranks as high as the wings, and we’ll joke that the rate of domestic violence increases when the Bills lose.

I choose to live in Buffalo because we know who we are and we realize that we, the people, are our greatest attraction.